Tempo-controller for automatic piano-players.



No. 861 575. PATENTED JULY 30 1907.. v J W'DARLBY, JR.

TEMPO CONTROLLER FOR AUTOMATIC PI ANO PLAYERS. l A'PPLIOATION FILED 00T.8. 190s.

2 BHEEIB-BHEET 1.

No. 861,575. PATENTED JULY 30, 1907.

J. W. DARLEY, JR. TEMPO CONTROLLER FOR AUTOMATIC PIANO PLAYERS.

APPLICATION FILED COT-8. 1906.

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JOHN W. DARLEY, JR, OF BrllQTllllORE, MARYlLlND, ASSIGNOR TO ERNEST J'. KNABE, JR, F BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

TEMPO-CONTRDLLER FOR AUTOMATIC"lIANO-PLAYERS.

Specification of Letters Patent. 4 Application filed ctober8,190l6.' Serial No. 337.949.

, Patented July 30, 1907.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN W. DARLEY, n, a citizen oi the United States, residing-at 1518 North Broadway, in the city of Baltimore, State of Maryland. have invented 5 certain new and useful Improvements in Tempo-Controllers for Automatic Piano-Players; and I do hereby declare the following to'be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same: i r

My inyntionrelats to improvements in the tempo 7 controller for automatic piano players, and has for its objects-to provide means whereby the operator can irstantly change the tempo from theraite at which it was set at the beginning of the performance of a certain composition to any other tempo withinthe range of the instrument, holdit there as long as desircd,.and then' change back to lheoriginal tempo without the necessity of thc operator controlling the last change, it being performed automatically; to indicate at all times both thextempo for which thepriginal adjustment was made and the teinpo to which the original tempo is altered.

A further object of my, invention is to increase the sensitivcness of the governor for the motor which drives 4 the music rolls, by leiiving its movable member entircly free. Heretoiore the movable member of the motor governor was connected through various links and levers to a lever of seesaw form, adapted to receivepressure on either end from the fingers, and thus increas eiosdecrease the tension on the movable member ofthe motor governor, thereby altering the air pressure a in' the motor and thus changing thetempo, which change or" tempo, howev cr, was likely to be somewhat sudden when the seesaw lcv'cr wasoperatcd to'produce slower tempo. Also the amount by which the tempo could be changed by the seesaw lever in the direction of a faster tempo was limited, owing to the'fact that the seesaw lever operated only on. the movable member of the motor governor, and the metronome valve, which 40 was controlled by a separate lever, was unchanged in position during the operation or the sce'saw' lever, hence it followed that if the metronome valve were set for say the largo or adagio positions, but very little' increaseetv speed of tempo could beobtained by operating the l 45. seesaw lever. Furthermore, the links and levers connccted with the movable member of the motor governor interfered with the sensitiveness of the same.

In my improved construction I obviate these defects by connecting the seesaw lever through appropriate 5 0 mechanism with the metronom e valve, thus leaving the motor governor entirely'free to perform its functions as such, and providing for the widest possible sudden or gradual changes by said seesaw lever of the tempo within the range of the instrument.

Without limitation to the par icular illustrated conthe direction of the arrow 2 in said figure, the supportmg part-andlever 39 being broken away; Fig. 3 is a view of the parts shown in Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrow 3 in said figure. Fig. 4 is a view of the parts shown in Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrow 4 in said figure, the supporting part being broken away, and the front board of the piano player being omitted. Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. l, the seesaw lever and the-frontjboard of the piano player being omitted. Fig. 6' is a central section of the parts shown in Fig. 1, looking inthe direction of the arrow 2, the

front board of the piano player being omitted. Fig. 7 is a view of the seesaw lever looking in the direction of the arrow 7 in Fig. 2. Fig. 8 is a front view of the tempo indicator pointer. Fig. 9 is a view of one of the levers and the block containing the bearing for its fulcrum. Fig. 10 is a front view of a piano player containing my improved tempo controller, the lower panel being removed. Fig. 11 is a partial 'top plan view of the piano player, showing the relative position of the tempo controller and the lever for lifting the dampers of the piano:

' 1 is the front board of a piano player, having mounted thereon the usual manually operated lovers for controlling the mechanism, including the lever 6 for lifting the dampers of thc piano, but omitting the usual tempo lever and phrasing levcr, the functions of both of which are combined in the device about tobe described. Near the lever (5 15 mounted the seesaw lever 5 in the following manncr. The front board is cut away as at 8 and the seesaw lever and its connected parts are mounted therein, being supported by the 1110- tallic bracket 9 secured to the front board by screws 10.

This bracket has the upward extension 11, which terminates in the two laterally extending arms 12, provided with the depending semi-circular faced extcn- '10.; sions 13. 1% the junction of the upright portion 11 and laterally extending portions 12, there is provided a 7 bearing for the pin 14, said bearing being provided with a bushing 1-5. The pin '14 fits tightly in holes provided in the seesaw lever 5, and is the fulcrum upon which said lever rocks. The lever 5 is formed of wood, and

has flat top portion provided with a celluloid cover ing 16 applied thereto by the pins 17 and having engravodthereon the words Retard and Accel. The

ends of said seesaw lever are formed in circular arcs 18 1 10 concentric w th-the pin 14, two parallel straight porions 19, and two curves of small radius the bottomt is formed of be four inclined faces 21, 21,22, 22, and. the circular )ortion 23. The front-24 is straight, the

rear is cut a ray as at 25 and 26 for clearance around the various 1 arts. of said seesaw lever for the reception-of the upright 11 and extensions 12. felt washers 28 being interposed be.- twccn same and the sides of the slot 27. The inclined portions 2i are grooved, and in said grooves the springs 29 ar secured by the screws 30. the free ends of said springs passing into grooves in the blocks 31 and being secured thereto by the screws 32. Said blocks are faced with felt S3,which the tension of the springs 29 keeps pressed against the incline 22 and the extensions 13 of the bracket 9. Hence it is evident that if the forefinger of the right hand be applied on the word Retard on the top of the seesaivlever, and the middle finger of thsame hand he applied on the word Accel. on said lever,'thatpr,essure with either finger will depress the corresponding side of said lever, against the ,t enslon of the spring on the opposite side thereof, for

the felt 33 attached to said spring will remain in contlw with the corresponding extension 13-, while the corresponding incline 22 will move away from said felt, hence when pressure is removed the seesaw lever will move backward until the felt 33 again rests against the incline 22, thus restoring the lever 5 to the position shown in Fig.1 with its top face substantially horizontal ,thus any displacement of said lever from this position in either direction will be immediately corrected by said springs as soon as the pressure of the finger is removedfrom the top of said lever.

The bracket 9 is provided with a depending lug 34, which is bored to lit snugly on a metallic bushing 35 provided with the flange 36. a screw 37 threaded through said lug and saidbushing serving to retain the latter in place. On said bushing 35 and between the flange 36 and a-washer 38 placed against the lug 34., is revolubly mounted the cam 39, formed of wood. This cam is provided with an indicating handle 40., secured thereto by the screws 41 and adapted to move over the scale 42 secured on the. frame 43 of the piano player. The bracket 0 is thickened as at 44, and in a hole 45 provided therein is plat-ed a compression spring 46 en circling loosely the st m 47 formed integrally with the head 48, which slides. loosely in the hole 45. The top of the head 18 is turned to a curved surface to fit against the portion 4!) oi the slot 50, Whichis provided in the ('{1111 39 for clearance around the bracket 9, in order to per'nil ol' the movement of the cam 39 from the position in whi h the h-indle 40 is opposite Hold, to that in which it is opposite Presto; The portion 49 is r-oncentriclwith the bushing 35, and the spring 46 pressiig the head 48 thereupon insuresthat the cam 39 will remain in the position to which it is moved by the A groove 27 is milled in the bottom responding tempo in the music.

for the reception of the head of said screw. A threaded hole 61 is provided in the other end of the lever 56, in which is tightly screwed the screw 62, which passes loosely through the bushing 63 provided in the link 64, near the other end of which is a hole provided with a similar bushing 65 through which loosely passes the screw 66, said screw being tightly screwed into a threaded hole 67 provided in the lateral extension 68 of the lever 69. Felt washers 70 are placed between the parts 5 and 56, 56 and 64, 64 and 68, and 52 and 56.

The lever 69 is provided with a boss 71 having the hole 72 in which the shaft 73 its tightly, the pin 74 securing both together. Formed integrally with the extension 68 and the boss 71 are the two upwardly extending curved portions 75, 75, inclosing the slot 76. At the highest point of the curved portions. 75 thereis formed the forward extension 77, from the forward extremity of which rises the lever 78, having the circular shaped enlargement 79. and the indicating handle 80, which is curved to follow the contour of the handle 40. The slot 76 in the lever 69 is the same shape as that in the cam 39. The enlargement 79 is adapted to strike the felt pieces 107 attached to the lever 5, and thus limit the angular movement of the handle 80. The shaft 73 1 its loosely in the cloth bushing 81 secured in the metallic bushing 35, and said shaft is bent at right angles to form the lever 82, which is flattened as at .through'a hushed hole in the upper end'of the connecting rod 86. Felt washers 87 and 88 are interposed between the lever 69 and flange 36, and between the bushing 35 and lever 82. The lower end of the rod 86 is connected to one arm of' a bell crank lever 87, mounted on the bracket 88", which is secured to the framework of the piano player. The other'arm of the bell crank lever 87 is connected by the rod 89 to the metronome valve 90, which is pressed to its seat over the slit 91 by the spring 92. 4

The air coming from the motor 93 passes through the port 94 to the chest 95, thence past the valve 90 through the slit 91 to the air trunk 96, thence through the port 97 to the governor 98, past the well known governing valve of said governor to the port 99, through the trunk 100 and port 101 to the reservoir 102, from which the air is exhausted by the pumpers103 and 104. The function of the governor as is well known is to maintain the pressure of the air constant .in the trunk 96, even though the pressure in the trunk 100 varies. p

' The motor 93 drives the roll 105 and the paper roll (not shown) by the chain 106; the intermediate connections and rerolling mechanism not being a part of this invention are not illustrated.

The operation of my improved device is as follows: The fingers are applied to both handles 40 and 80, their peculiar shape permitting of this being readily done, and they are moved until opposite the desired tempo, say as at 107 in Fig. 1. The motion of the handle 80 acts through the lever 82, rod 86, lever 87 and rod 80 on the metronome valve 90 to set it at su ch :1. point as to leave the proper amount of the slit 91 open to cause the motor to run at that speed which will produce the cor- This motion of the handle 80 would operate through the link 64 and lever 56 to move the lever 5, bearing in mind that the lever 56 is iulcrtuned at 55, were it not that said fulcrum is in the block 52, which has a bearing in the groove 51 of the cam 30, for the groove 5]. has an amount of ecceni'ricity in the angle included between Hold and "Presto" equal to the amount oi movement that the pin 55 would have ii the block 52 was removed, the lev r 5 held firmly with its top horizontal and the handle S0 moved from Hold to Presto, hence it follows that both handles 40 and 80 can be moved in unison without moving the lever 5. The handles being now set to the desired tempo, playing is commenccd, the fore and middle fingers being disposed upon the top of the lever 5 as be ore noted; if it is desired to play faster, the middle linger is to press upon the Acccl. side of the lever 5. This will raise the screw 58 and depress the screw 62, the link 64, screws 66 and 85, thus pushing down the rod 86 and pushing the rod 89 to the lcit, thus opening more of the slit 91 and increasing the speed to the tempo indicated by the handle 80, which has been moved to a new position by the link 64. During this operation the handle 40 indicates the original tempo at which the handles were set, since the cam 39 is held by the head 48, and also because there is no tendencyof the cam to move Owing to the operation of the lever 56, since the angle between the line of action of the pin 55,, and the line perpendicular to the orking face of the groove 51 at its intersection with said line of action: is less than the angle of repose of cloth on wood When the finger pressure is released the proper one oi the springs29 returns the lever 5 to the horizontal position, thus bringing the handle 80 opposite the handle 40 and restoring the original tempo. Pressur on the other side of the lever 5 either gives a s1 )WOI tempo or steps the mechanism, the handle 80 moving to indicate its value, and the handle 40 remaining fixed at the original tempo.

I do not limit myself to the precise construction shown, for many changes may be made without depart- Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is: i

1. In combination, for the purpose set forth, a windway passage, means for inducing a wind current therethrough,

a valve for controlling said passage, means for setting said valve at any position within its range of movement, and means for moving, said valve at will to any other position within said range and for automatically returning said valve to said first named position.

1 2. The tempo controller consisting of a manually operativc seesaw lever connected with a rocking lever having a movable fulcrum, and means for varying, the position of said fulcrum, in combination with the metronome valve,

and connections between said valve and said rocking lever.

3. In a mechanical music playing instrument, the combination of a motor, wind inducing apparatus,a metronome valve, means for setting same, a manually operated device for varying the position of said metronome valve, and a spring for returning said valve to the position in which it was placed by the setting means.

4. In combination for the purpose set forth, :1 windway passage, means for inducing a wind current therethrough, means for setting the cross section of said passage at any magnitude within its maximum limit, means {or altering said magnitude to any extent within said limit and for automatically restoring the size of the cross section to the magnitude at which it was originally set.

5. In an automatic music playing device, 'a seesaw lever mounted in the frame of said playing device, and having a face adapted for receiving finger pressure on either end, in

combination with a metronome valve operated by said see saw lever and meansfor operating said valve independently of said see saw lever.

6. In an automatic music playing device, the combination with a metronome valve and means forsett ing same and indicating the tempo, of means for altering the posi tion of said metronome valve and indicating the corresponding tempo, without altering the position of the first named indicating means.

7. In a tempo controller, the combination of a seesaw lever, a transmission device operated thereby, connections between said transmission device and the metronome valye, and additional means for operating said transmission device, without operating said see saw lever.

8. In a tempo controller the combination of a metronome valve, connections between said valve and an indicating handle, and additional means for changing the position of said metronome valve without changing the position of said indicating handle. I

9. In a tempo controller the combination of a metronome valve, connections between said valve and an indicating handle, an additional handle for setting said metronome valve, and meaus'for altering the position of said indicating handle without altering the position of said last named handle.

10. In combination 'for the purpose set forth, a motor and means for setting and indicating thespeed of same, with means for varying said speed and indicating the variations without changing the position of the first named setting and indicating means.

In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

- JOHN w. DARLEY, JR.

Witnesses:

JNo. H. STIvnns, Apnnnr J. HALL. 

